Thai Stock Market Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 30 points or 1.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,685-point plateau and it's likely to head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates and recession fears. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and energy producers.

For the day, the index gained 4.40 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 1,685.44 after trading between 1,679.15 and 1,689.41. Volume was 15.137 billion hares worth 61.437 billion baht. There were 941 decliners and 599 gainers, with 483 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.50 percent, while Thailand Airport rallied 2.39 percent, Asset World improved 0.84 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical strengthened 1.68 percent, Bangkok Expressway spiked 2.13 percent, B. Grimm climbed 1.23 percent, CP All Public fell 0.36 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods lost 0.41 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.68 percent, Gulf shed 0.46 percent, Kasikornbank dipped 0.33 percent, Krung Thai Bank declined 1.14 percent, Krung Thai Card increased 0.42 percent, PTT Exploration and Production jumped 1.47 percent, Siam Commercial Bank and SCG Packaging both slumped 0.45 percent, Siam Concrete dropped 0.84 percent, Thai Oil was up 1.32 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, Banpu, Bangkok Bank, BTS Group, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT and PTT Global Chemical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages were unable to hold early support on Wednesday, quickly heading south and finishing near daily lows.

The Dow plummeted 613,89 points or 1.81 percent to finish at 33,296.96, while the NASDAQ tumbled 138.10 points or 1.24 percent to close at 10,957.01 and the S&P 500 sank 62.11 points or 1.56 percent to end at 3,928.86.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard commented that the central bank needs to quickly hike interest rates above 5 percent, shelving much of the recent optimism over interest rates.

Disappointing economic data also weighed as the Commerce Department reported a steep drop in U.S. retail sales in December. A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in the U.S. fell by much more than expected in December.

As a result of the data, treasuries showed a substantial move to the upside, further stoking fears for the outlook of interest rates.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday amid concerns about a possible U.S. recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended lower by $0.70 or 0.9 percent at $79.48 a barrel.